Opening partnerships are the foundation of any cricket inning, regardless of the format of the game. A big partnership for the first wicket will reduce the pressure on the following batters and help the team build a big score on the board. The best opening pairs are those who can consistently build partnerships and give a solid foundation for their team.
Over the years, we have seen many great opening pairs from around the world beat the opponent with their brilliant performances. Teams lacking opening partnerships struggle to find success, especially in the longer formats, as it will automatically put pressure on the middle-order batters.
When we analyze the best opening pairs in ODI cricket, most are from the 1990s and later. Since then, we have seen players from all countries put on some amazing opening partnerships that cricket fans will never forget.
With that said, let’s take a look at the three most successful opening pairs in One Day Internationals:
1. Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar
There won’t be much debate about Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly as the best opening pair in the history of ODI cricket as both have given India a solid foundation for over a decade. Tendulkar and Ganguly have batted together as openers in 136 innings and have put up 100-plus partnerships for India 21 times and crossed the 50 mark 23 times. The stats tell how amazing the two were at the top of the order and one can imagine how the opposition feared these Indian legends.
While the ‘God of Cricket’ Sachin Tendulkar is regarded as the most complete batter of his era, Ganguly is regarded as one of the greatest captains of all time. Having scored 100 international centuries in his 24-year career, Sachin is the only player to have scored more than 30000 runs in international cricket. This man also holds many other records which no cricketer has been able to break so far.
Sourav Ganguly, popularly known as Dada, was phenomenal in developing the Indian cricket team and later became the President of the Indian Cricket Board. The left-handed batter has scored more than 18000 international runs including 38 centuries and over 100 fifties.
2. Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden
These two left-handers of Australia are regarded as the most destructive opening pair in ODI history. The duo scored 5372 runs in 114 innings with 16-century opening partnerships and 29 half-century partnerships. Gilchrist and Hayden were good at taking the game away from their opponents if they got off to a good start. The wicket-keeper batter has scored 15000-plus runs with 33 centuries and 81 half-centuries in his international career Hayden, meanwhile, has scored over 14,000 runs with 40 centuries and 65 half-centuries.
3. Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes
Greenidge and Haynes were probably the only successful opening pairs before the 1990s. The two were the best pair of West Indies team during 1970-1990 when they completely dominated world cricket. The duo amassed over 5000 runs in 102 innings as openers, with 15 partnerships of over 100 and 24 over 50-plus. Greenidge has scored 5134 runs in ODI cricket with 11 centuries and 31 fifties and Haynes has scored 8648 runs with 17 centuries and 57 fifties.